A schism breaking out liptweon the Latin and the ] Greek churches, the Moravian prince was inihufd, by political changes, to enter into a closer relation with the Gerniau empire and the "Western Church. IVIethodius and Cyril, in this emergency, proved themselves to be men who valued Christianity more highly than sect. They repaired to Kome, where they easily entered into an understanding with pope Adrian I, so that party strife caused no delay in the good work. Cyril remained in Kome as a monk, while Methodius, after acknowledg- ing submission to the Romish Church, and giving a sat- isfactory confession of faith, was consecrated archbishop of the Moravian Church. It was while Methodius was laboring in jMoravia that duke Borzivoy, of Bohemia, visited tiie court of Swatopluk (871), and becoming ac- quainted with the Christian religion, acknowledged his . belief in it by causing himself, his wife, and his attend- ants to be baptized. On his return to Bohemia, Me- thiiilius acioujpanied him, and for a short time labored sill riv-liilU . cduverting many, and causing several con- viiiis Mild cliiirclies to be erected. From this new tield he returned to IVIoravia, where he remained until the wars with which the country was then distracted obliged him to transfer the field of his labors to the adjacent provinces connected with the German empire. The clergy of Salzburg, envious of his success, and prejudiced against the Eastern Church, complained to pope John VIII that Methodius was attached to the customs of the Greek Cliureh, and that he made use of the Sclavonic language in public worship, and accused him of infring- ing on the see of the archbishop of Salzburg. The pope, though little inclined to listen to accusations which German bishops might make against any prelate ordained at Home, could not altogctlur allay his suspi- cions as to the relations between Mahodius and the Eastern Cluiich, especially at a time when there were constant bickerings between the Latin and the Greek churches. I^Icthodius hastened to Kome in obedience to the call of the pope (879), and an interview took place, which resulted in a complete refutation of the charges made against him. The pope even defended the use of the Sclavonic instead of the Latin language, in a letter written to the Moravian prince, in which he say.'- : '• The alphabet invented by a certain philosopher, Constantinc (Cyril), to the end that God's praise may duly sound forth in it, we rightly commend ; and we order that in this language the messages and works of our Lord Christ be declared ; for we arc exhorted by Holy Scripture to praise the Lord, not in three languages alone, but in all tongues and nations (Psa. cxvii, and Philii). ii). And the apostles, full of the Holy Ghost, pnnlaiined in all languages the great works of (Jod. And the apostle Paul exhorts us (1 Cor. xiv) that, speaking in tongues, we should edify the Church. It stands not at all in contradiction with the faith to cele- brate the mass in this language, to read the (Jospel or lessons from the Scriptures properly translated into it, or to rehearse any of the Church hymns in the same, for the God who" is the author of the three principal languages created the others also for his own glory. Only it is necessary, in order to greater solemnity, that in all the Moravian churches the (iospel should, in the first place, be publicly read in Latin, and then repeated in the Sclavonic language, so as to be unilerstood l)y the people" (Xeander, iii, 318). The pope also formed the Moravians into a separate diocese, independent of the (ierman Church, and confirmed Methodius as their arch- bishop, making him directly responsible to himself in- stead of to the (ierman prelate. This led to new dis- putes, in which the German clergy succeeded in inllu- encing the ^loravian ])rince against ^lelhodius. One of his subordinate bishops, named Wicliin, also attached himself to the German party. His dilliculties and con- troversies became so numerous that he reported the matter in detail to the pope, and reipiesteii permission to appear before liim in person. .John VIII granted this rciiuest, and, though expressing a desire to hear
both sides of the controversy, assured him of his kindly feelings towards him, and exhorted him not to allow the work to suffer, but to jirosecute it faithfully. In .S.si Methodius went to Kome, after which time his name disappears from the records of history. It cannot be de- termined whether he died soon after, or whether the hostile party in Moravia prevented his return. He was canonized by the Church. The Greeks and Sclavonians celebrate him on Jlay 11, although in the IMartyrolo- gium the day is March 9. See F. X. Kichter, Ci/rtll mid Method der Slaven Apostel (1825) ; Ginzel, Gesch. der Slaven Apostel (1857) ; Baxmann, PoHtik der Papste (Elberf. 1869), vol. ii; Neander, Ch. Hist, iii, 318 sq.; Hardwick, Ch, Hist. Middle Ages, p. Ill sq.; Maclear Hist, of Missions in Middle Ages, p. 284 sq. (H. W. T.)
Methoditis oi' Constantinople, a patriarch in the Kastern Cliurch who flourished about 1240, is prob- ably the aiitlinr o{ J)e Rirehilione, which some attribute to Methodius Eubulus, The Greek text, with a Latin version, is contained in the first volume of the Grcccia Orihodoxa, as well as in some of the Biblioth. Patnim. He also wrote yfCnigmata, in iambic tristichs, extant in MS. See Fabricius, Bibl. Grtec. vii, 275 ; Cave, p. 662 (ed. Geneva). — Smith, Lid. Greek and Rom. Biog. s. v.